[OPEN] Dreams & Ghosts

[sharpjustice]

Who: Mayaka & you !

What: 2 open prompts (reviewing dreams from last month + attempting to get over her fear of ghosts) and wildcard option

Where: Around Bottlecay Bay + Skull Town

When: Beginning of Feb

Warnings: none atm


a. dream review

Perhaps you're passing through the Archives, or the living hall in Skull Town when you spot a Sneasel sitting at a table furiously scrawling out various drawings on paper. Mayaka's gloves have been set aside neatly beside her for now, because she finds it easier to hold onto the charcoal pencils using her bare claws. She's experienced some weird dreams from last month. Though she doesn't remember the exact details, she's been dutifully drawing out the images that lingered in her mind upon waking up. Now, it's time to try to make sense of them. On the table you'll find the following drawings:

1. What appears to be a spaceship, though Mayaka's drawn it to look more like a truck with four wheels underneath.

2. A primordial-looking fish creature. She has given it a pair of cute, anime-sized eyes to make it look more approachable.

3. A black cat with an extra pair of eyes on its stomach. More cat-like than Mimikyu at this point.

4. The drawing she's currently working on, and struggling to capture. She's trying to remember what the alien beings in the final big nightmare looked like, though the large and erratic shapes on paper may not look recognisable to anyone. Mayaka is finding it difficult because she doesn't have an image in mind to associate with what she saw in the nightmare.

She's too caught up with this to notice if someone were to approach...


b. how to deal with ghosts

If you're wandering around Bottlecap Bay, you'll find Mayaka outside her house in the Lum Berry housing area, rooted on the spot.

Her attention is focused on a small clay sculpture she's placed in the garden of her front porch. It's a little handmade ghost figurine with a hairbow on its head. While it might look strangely cute, the more you look at it, the more you'll notice that it's two eyes seem to be gazing directly at you with an unblinking Stare™.

This is the ghost that's been chasing her in her dreams, but she's too scared to get rid of it! (Also, the fact that it was a gift to her from Catrina doesn't help!)

The Sneasel is shaking a little, and it's not from the cold weather. She's standing a safe distance away from the figurine, muttering to herself: "It's just a doll... it's just a dolll..."

(Dolls are creepy too, though??)

c. wildcard!
for any other threads or ideas that come up!

Comments

a

[telewarped]

When she spots the Sneasel from across the hall, Shoka can't shake the feeling that she's seen her somewhere before. As if that isn't strange enough, when curiosity brings her to Shadow Sneak closer, she can't shake the feeling that she's done this before, too. Sneaking up on a Sneasel sitting at a table, too distracted by something else to notice her approaching (Don't scare me like that! she remembers someone saying)...

The drawings are new, however. When the Sneasel doesn't immediately realize she has a ghostly audience looming behind her and spook, Shoka takes the opportunity to look them over. There's some kind of lumpy, beat up spacecar (?), a so-ugly-it's-kinda-cute fish Pokémon (??) she's never seen before, and...

Mr. Mew?!

... Oh. No, actually... Is that her?

"Oh, sweet," she says aloud without much thought. "Fanart."

[sharpjustice]

The unexpected voice startles Mayaka out of her focused state and makes her jump in her seat. She immediately puts down her pencil and turns, ready to scold the offender for sneaking up like that.

...Only to stop herself when she gets a good look at the Mimikyu. She stares at Shoka, then at her drawing on the table, then back at Shoka.

"It's you!"

Even though she says this, Mayaka's addressing the top part of the Mimikyu, failing to realise that Shoka's eyes are lower down.

A

[autumnrainrunaway]

Its a beautiful day in this Archive, a beautiful day for an archivist~

Dolly is having a time out from stressing over the inadvertent dream share event, deciding a good ol' fashion browsing of the Archives was in good order. A simple glance was all it took for Dolly to notice Mayaka there drawing and...

......

There's fan art for the tiktaalik tour guide? Dolly sensed the tiktaalik was going to be hanging this image in his office now. Well...Dolly does have crafting materials on paw, might as well join in.

"Hey Mayaka, would you be alright with me hanging out to do crafts?"

OMG I LOVE IT

[sharpjustice]

"I'm not crafting, Dolly-chan! I'm trying to figure out what all these things I've dreamt about mean."

She's too concerned with correcting the Sylveon that her drawing isn't leisure, that she forgets to return the warm greeting. Having said this, Mayaka pulls out an empty chair for Dolly to join her at the table.

B

[bladeofnymeia]

[It kind of feels like she's been in a fugue state, when Firoza is back to business with the new month. Was she out digging through the snow and reminiscing on her childhood? Or was all of that a series of dreams while she slept? It's hard to pinpoint when your mind's still tired and fuzzy, but she's sorting through it as she walks through town.

As she happens to wander into where the Lum Berries have their housing, though, the odd clay figurine catches her eye, and she wanders up to the front porch where it's lingering, staring unflinchingly back into its gaze.]

...

[Headtilt? What is this for?

She hasn't noticed that Mayaka is in the area, so curious of this decoration that she is.]

[sharpjustice]

[Her intense stare down is interrupted by a stranger. And yet, Mayaka recognises that blue bandana. She remembers Ingo showing an exact image of this Nidoran to her over the Grumpearl.]

Excuse me... are you Firoza? [She asks, stepping up to the fellow Poison-type, before realising she's way too close to the ghost figurine.

The Sneasel immediately hops a few paces back to her safe zone in silent distress.]

a

[wolfcut]

As per usual, Bigby's busy snooping around the Archives despite being from a different guild entirely. His small size has its advantages unfortunately, including being easy to miss. In the middle of rummaging for tablets that are nearly as big as he is, he pauses after he notices a familiar face.

"Mayaka?" The drawings catch his attention, particularly the one she's currently working on. But the more he looks, the more he realizes there's another familiar face in the pile. "—is that Shoka?"

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka looks up from the table and smiles when she sees a familiar face.

"B-chan!" she says by way of greeting. Then, she turns to the drawing that Bigby has pointed out.

"Shoka, isn't she..." the one Noelle's got a thing with? Mayaka withholds the second part of the statement, sensitive as she is to matters of the heart.

"... who is she, again? I haven't met her yet."

a!

[loopsiedaisy]

Sorry, Mayaka. It's yet another member of the Shoka Fan Club.

This one pads up to the side of her table over in Skull Town, initially intrigued by seeing her busy drawing... and also by the fact that she kind of looks like a mini-Odile. But then they inspect what's already laid out and recognize the charcoal sketch that everyone else has been pausing over.

"Oh! It's kittycat!"

They tilt their head, examining it for a moment longer.

"Cute!"

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka registers the big wizard hat first, before she identifies the Pokemon underneath it as a lanky Shinx she's not met before. She doesn't know if the comment is meant as a compliment for her art (this, she finds hard to believe since it's still a very rough sketch) or if they're remarking on the nature of the creature in the drawing itself.

"Oh! Do you know what this is?" she asks Siffrin.

blink & missing (w/ kinger)

[sharpjustice]

This is the first time Mayaka's been to these caves, and the only reason she's not freaking out is because her companion is a walking nightlight. Kinger's mushroom cap glows in the darkness, and the bright pink fan Mayaka is carrying in her arms is also discernable despite the dim environment.

What had started as a rather fun project has lengthened into an extensive search, with their attempts to find Rotom leading them from place to place around the Bay. Following the latest rumour, Mayaka finds herself walking through some really creepy caves in the middle of the night, and very much re-thinking her initial enthusiasm.

"Um.. Kinger-san, now that I think about it, why would an Electric-type like Rotom be in a place like this?" she asks, her voice trembling only a little bit.

[0dchess]

"There's a lot of thunderstorms in this area, plus those charged stones Lurantis wanted to get." Kinger explains confidently. "That plus the darkness of these caves seems perfect for an electric ghost."

Did Kinger not mention the ghost part before? Oops.

B

[improvking]

Another doll-like figure slowly approaches, taking in the scene. It's a Mimikyu, wearing a woolly red scarf around the false neck. After looking back and forth between Mayaka and the little ghost sculpture for a bit, finally the Ring-Spirit opts to approach... the sculpture?

He taps it lightly on the head with his tail-stick before addressing it. "Are you able to communicate? Is this your house, or theirs? Whoever doesn't belong here should probably leave, before that Sneasel has a heart attack."

[sharpjustice]

Having only seen Shoka and her black cat disguise prior to this, it doesn't register for Mayaka that this stranger is also a Mimikyu. To her, he appears to be a cute little mouse-like creature with a wooden tail. And he's standing far too close to Catrina's ghost sculpture.

"Don't talk to it!!" She boldly reaches out to grab onto him and yank him back to where she's standing.

"What if it replies?!"

No, scratch that, Mayaka does not want to imagine that happening!

a if it's still good?

[positivestars]

With things a bit more settled, it's back to trying to research bits and pieces- what Pokemon can do, any stories of legendary Pokémon that pulls Maya to the Archives. Although she doesn't mind seeing a friend, certainly! And she's curious.

"What are you working on?" she asks, peering at one of the unfinished sheets.

of course !!

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka hears someone walking up to her table, and turns to greet them when she recognises their voice.

"Ah! Maya-san!"

Her first instinct is to cover the drawings, not wanting to show these sketches that may appear silly or unpolished. The Sneasel relents a few moments later, remembering that lots of others have passed by her table today, and she hadn't been as self-conscious. Maybe it's because Maya's the type to ask lots of questions and figure stuff out. Mayaka is not going to give away how she learned to draw.

"I'm trying to remember some of the things I saw in my dreams last month. Whether they were connected, or have to do with the Grumpearl mess."

b

[paperceptive]

Odile doesn't usually stop to chat with her Lum neighbors just because. She's not necessarily unfriendly, just...not the most social person in the world. But the Weavile does slow down to watch...whatever this is.

"...having trouble?" With some weird little statue?

odile !!! *grabby hands

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka spins around, a spark of relief appearing in her eyes when she sees that it's Odile. She'll know what to do, right?

"Yes. Well..." Nothing's actually happened to her yet, so the Sneasel feels a bit silly.

Nevertheless, she points to the small sculpture before whispering: "That creeps me out, but I don't know what to do with it."

b

[friendlyflower]

Flowey jumps out of nowhere, making a creepy face with wide eyes and rows of sharp teeth. "BOO!!!!!"

1/2

[sharpjustice]

"eeeaAAAAA!!!"

Mayaka immediately jumps - her legs springing her high into the air in fright - before landing ungracefully on the pavement a few feet away with a light thud.

2/2

[sharpjustice]

She slowly gets up, glaring at the culprit.

"Is this what you do on your off days, kid? Going around messing with people?"

a (bite me for the lateness i fell into the finals void)

[edgewater]

Parvati's settled back into her somewhat usual routine for the most part. But when cutting through the Archives and stopping to say hi to her friend, she can't help but be drawn to one of the drawings in particular. It's got wheels like a ground vehicle, but she'd recognise that piece of junk anywhere.

"Is that my ship?"

Had she ever told Mayaka about that?

u made it ! ※\(^o^)/※

[sharpjustice]

Mayaka thought that her friend had just stopped by briefly to say hi, and had returned her attention to her current sketch -- until she hears Parvati's next statement.

"Eh?"

She quickly shifts her attention back to the Tinkaton. Blinking a few times, registering this new... no, familiar... piece of information. Her gaze slides back to the drawing in question. Though Mayaka has had time to look at it on and off, ever since she first drew it that night, she hasn't been able to recognise what it was, till now.

"I think it is. I think... you were the one who drew it first, Parvati-chan."

Mayaka furrows her brow, completely puzzled by how sure she is of this.

"This is just me copying it."

C - MESSAGE...RECEIVED???

[seacub]

[Suffice to say, being woken up to a panicked Mayaka was not what Emporio expected to happen a little bit into his sleep today.

But it is, and he immediately tries to buzz her back.]

Mayaka???

Mayaka, are you okay!?

[What do you mean you need help he didn't catch all that aaaaaaaa]

[sharpjustice]

...

...

...

[Emporio's Grumpearl message reaches no one, because just a few seconds before, Mayaka abandons her Grumpearl in her room to bolt out the door, towards where she thinks Emporio's house is. Having received the 'message' that he was in danger, she didn't even think about contacting him over the pearl -- or to even check if he was at home!]